Tunisian club Esperance sacked their coach Maher Kanzari on Monday, one month after his appointment and have hired the team’s former star Nabil Maaloul, according to Tunisian newspaper Al Sabah.

Kanzari, the team’s former assistant coach, was appointed on December 1 on a care taker basis for the rest of the season after the dismissal of former head coach Fawzi Benzerti.

Despite leading the defending champions to three victories, Kanzari was criticized after the Tunisian heavyweights were defeated by AS Gabes

“I am ready for this interesting task with my former club. Esperance is the strongest team in Tunisia and I am sure that I am capable of leading them to success,” Maaloul told a Tunisian radio station on Tuesday.

“Winning the CAF African champions league will be our priority, so we must prepare the team well,” he added.

Maaloul was assistant coach of the Tunisian national football team from 2004 to 2006.

Esperance are on top of the Tunisian league table with 32 points.